IN our meditation on verses 31-35 of Genesis chapter 29, we noted the godliness of Leah as she attributed the blessing of being given sons to God, and gave praise to God for these blessings, and we were able to see this godliness of Jacob and his family. However in these next verses it seems that the godliness has been pushed into the background, and the flesh comes into prominence. There is in all God's people this dual force. We have been born again of the Spirit, by which we have been raised to new life in Christ, where we are created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. This is now our real self which is eternal. However in the epistles of the New Testament, Paul in particular, identifies the remaining flesh, which wars against the Spirit, and causes the believer to fail in the holy and trusting life which we are in Christ. Paul speaks of this conflict in Romans 7 and in Galatians 5, and elsewhere in his letters. However God's grace overrules in all things with his people, and grace triumphs where God works out his purposes in spite of our sin and failure. These next verses in Genesis 30, in which we read of the saga of the growth of Jacob's family, is an illustration of this. The godliness seen in Leah after the birth of her first four sons, is thrust into the background, and we see both Rachel and Leah acting according to their sinful nature.

We read in verse 1 of chapter 30 that Rachel grew jealous of her sisters blessings. Her sinful flesh reared its ugly head. Through this, trust and faith in God seemed to fly out of the window. Instead of bringing her trouble to the Lord, together with repentance for the wrong attitude of her heart, she turned from trust in God to blaming her husband. Jacob tells Rachel the truth that God was the author of life, and so Rachel should have gone with her grief to God, but he did it in a sinful and angry way. Instead of seeking to lead Rachel to bring her grief to God, he becomes angry and abusive to her.

Then we read how Rachel sought to overcome her grief and problem by the way of the flesh. She did what Sarah had done with Abraham, that of gaining sons for Jacob by giving her maid servant to Jacob as his wife. In the case of the birth of Ishmael by Hagar, God rejected this way of providing a son for Abraham. In Galatians 4: 21-31 Paul makes clear that Ishmael was rejected because it was the way of slavery to sin and death. Instead in the case of Abraham and Sarah, God gives them Isaac in a miraculous way, and it was through Isaac that the promise of God for the coming of the Saviour was continued. Here in the case of Rachel and her maid Bilhah God works his purpose out in pure grace, and the sons of Rachel's maid were included amongst the sons who brought about the nation of Israel, through which nation God brought about the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So we see that God works for his people in grace, and overrules even our faithless and sinful actions for his purposes of grace. God is always working his purposes out as year succeeds to year.

As we continue in this history in the blessing of the sons to Rachel through Bilhah, we find grace and godliness struggling with self and the flesh expressed in the life of Rachel.

After the birth of Dan, Rachel attributed his birth to the hand of God. She acknowledges that God had answered her pray for sons, but there was a sense of triumphalism in her thanks to God that she had found a way, in her own wisdom, to gain a son for Jacob. This mixed attitude is seen after the birth of the second son through Bilhah, for after the birth of Naphtali, Rachel's words were 'I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won. Instead of humble thanksgiving before God, she glories in triumphing over her sister. No doubt the two sisters, in their relationship with each other over the birth of sons, showed conflict. Perhaps Leah despised Rachel because she had no children when she had been given four; and Rachel had retaliated in kind in response to the attitude of her sister towards her.

The whole account we can say is very human, but it reveals the truth about human nature, even among those who have received new life in Christ. We fail to see here that humble dependence of God which is the mark of a sanctified life. Instead we see sinful attitudes which marked the two sisters action against each other. However in the midst of this conflict God is still in control, and grace abounds to both sisters, and in grace God works out his purposes in the sisters, in spite of their ungracious ways with each other.

Two things reveal themselves as we read this story. The first is the sovereignty of God over all things in this world, and particularly in respect of the lives of his believing people. The second is how dependent we are on God's mercy, grace and love. The truth is that God is working all things for our good, even in the sinful failures in our lives. Also the truth that having begun a good work in us, he continues it unto the day of Jesus Christ.